CHICAGO'S NORTHWEST SIDE (WBBM Newsradio) -- Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker says state workers are scrambling to get aid flowing to people receiving food assistance following the end of the government shutdown.
"This has all moved fairly quickly," the governor told reporters Thursday morning after touring a new training center for IATSE Local 2, 4300 W. Montrose Ave.
Pritzker, a Democrat and vocal opponent of the Trump Administration, says the state has been constantly working to adjust federal food assistance -- or SNAP -- payments in response to court rulings during the shutdown.
"Originally it was zero, it went to 50%, 65%, back to 50, though some people weren't getting anything at all, now we're back to 100%," the governor said.
It's estimated that nearly two million people in Illinois receive assistance through the federal government's SNAP program.
As for the shutdown, Pritzker again laid the blame at the feet of President Trump and Republicans in Congress.
"When things aren't going well in this country, it's the people in charge you should be looking to, and it's President Trump that's leading them."